


nobody get me dancing on the table like you do, nobody get me crying like a baby like you done (nobody make me run, run, run for the truth)

by Kealpos



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cause I said so., F/M, Homophobic Language, I mean. It has canon aspects! It just end in polyamory., In like one section., M/M, Multi, Nothing sexual! But making out and AAAALMOST taking a shirt off a female character ooooOOOoooh, OH! And there are da hot makeoutz between Christine and Jeremy in one section., There are a few more characters but these three... these babies are MAIN, Threesome - F/M/M, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 18:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17902928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kealpos/pseuds/Kealpos
Summary: 1.“When you fall in love,” Michael said, because love was one of the things they talked about, “fall in love with someone who covers you in pink blankets and talks to you like this. You do that for me, because you deserve it.”“Maybe.” Jeremy yawned. “What if I just fell in love with you? Would I deserve it?” There was a noise from the game, and Jeremy did not look up. Michael did not respond. Jeremy was on the precipice of falling asleep, so he did not care.-34.“You’re so pretty,” Christine whispered, her eyes half-lidded, and Jeremy gave her a private smile. She kissed him and moved her arms around his neck. He rested one hand under her head, and the other on the soft space of stomach above her hips. When she pulled away, he pressed his forehead against hers and said: “God, you’re perfect.” He kissed her again and moved in closer.-46.“Wh- d- Uh, what?” Jeremy asked, his eyebrows shooting up.“Unresolved Sexual Tension! You’re all closer like you fucked or something! Like, you and Mell,” he said, pointing to Jeremy.Jeremy looked at Christine, who smiled and shrugged, and he turned back to Rich. “I, um. Yeah. I’m dating Michael now.”





	nobody get me dancing on the table like you do, nobody get me crying like a baby like you done (nobody make me run, run, run for the truth)

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for like, caps, repeated text, and a sort of breakdown on number 14. That's the Chloe Halloween incident. It ain't graphic, and it's pretty short, but feels worth mentioning anyways.

1.

Michael sat on a beanbag chair, the blue light from the screen raining over him, and all Jeremy wanted to do was close his eyes. His mom had been tired today, and Jeremy always seemed to soak up her exhaustion like a sponge. There was just something about the bags under her eyes that Jeremy knew he resembled. What brought them together in that one tiny attribute?

The screen beeped and booped, and Jeremy yawned. Michael’s eyes darted over to him, and then back to the game. Thirteen in Michael’s basement, just kids. He was playing some off-brand game from the local store; something about fighting old Lovecraftian horrors, come to life in front of your eyes, if only slightly distorted to fit the shitty graphics. Jeremy yawned again, and he paused the game.

Michael stood up and walked over to the closet in his room, and pulled out an old, pink, woolen blanket. He came back over and draped it across Jeremy, attempting to tuck in his legs, which were beginning to stretch out via growth spurt. Jeremy startled when it fell on him, but gave Michael a sleepy smile, and he grinned back at him. He sat back down, unpaused, and continued his game.

There was silence before, and Jeremy thought it was comfortable, but now all he wanted to do was exhaustedly talk as Michael chopped the mighty Cthulhu to pieces. Sure, it was still comfortable silence, but the blanket broke the barrier in what Jeremy wanted to do. “Have you ever read the books?” He asked, and Michael looked at him.

“What?” He asked, just staring at him. Jeremy’s eyelids drooped.

“You know. The books. This is off of some horror dude, right?”

“Yeah. It’s off some dude. I haven’t read the books. Have you?”

“No.”

The quiet came back, but Michael was still looking at him. The blanket was warm. And pink. “Do you think you’d want to? Read the books?” Jeremy asked.

“No. I hear the dude was a racist.”

“That’s shitty.”

“Well, what can you do? Besides, I don’t even like horror. And it’s like, all Victorian prose or something. I couldn’t read that for more than five minutes without my spine curling into itself.” Jeremy laughed a little at that, and Michael finally smiled a little bit and turned back to the game.

“Why all the questions, Jeremy?”

“I dunno. Hey, have you ever had any weird dreams?”

“Of course I have. Who hasn’t?"

“Obama.”

“He has weird dreams. He ran for president. You have to have weird dreams to run for president.”

“You have weird dreams. Will you run for president? If you become the President, don’t forget me.”

“We’ll always be best friends,” Michael responded to that, all matter of fact. He timed this with a hard button press. A tentacle monster exploded on-screen.

“Of course we will. Who else will cover me in pink blankets and talk to me like this?” Jeremy asked. He burrowed in a little deeper into the blanket.

“When you fall in love,” Michael said, because love was one of the things they talked about, “fall in love with someone who covers you in pink blankets and talks to you like this. You do that for me, because you deserve it.”

“Maybe.” Jeremy yawned. “What if I just fell in love with you? Would I deserve it?” There was a noise from the game, and Jeremy did not look up. Michael did not respond. Jeremy was on the precipice of falling asleep, so he did not care.

-

2.

“My Mom’s worried you might be gay.” Michael looked over at Jeremy, mid-slushie sip, and sipped faster. When he stopped, he raised an eyebrow.

“I have two mothers,” Michael pointed out, and Jeremy shrugged.

The summer sun beat down, and Jeremy ran a hand through his hair. Michael was wearing bracelets and they jangled when his wrists moved. His body was always moving, like there was energy coursing through. Michael took another drink of his slushie, and Jeremy did the same. Jeremy’s favorite was the lemonade one they had occasionally, but he usually settled for cherry, like he had that day. Michael always got blue raspberry.

“I think,” Jeremy finally said, “she thinks it’s different. I think she thinks it’s different cause it’s two girls, and you’re a guy. I think she’s worried you’re going to infect me or something.”

“Am I gay?” Michael asked, and Jeremy cocked his head at him.

“I don’t know. Are you?” He shrugged, and his bracelets jangled.

Jeremy took a drink. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being gay, by the way. I don’t know what Moms like. I don’t know why she’s all freaked out.”

“What did she actually say?”

“I dunno.” Jeremy closed his eyes. “I do know. She sat me down and asked me if you had said anything about being gay. And then she lectured me on not dating until I’m older. And then she speculated about how feminine you were. She was really fixated on how you pierced your ears on your birthday. Then she kept suggesting I go see if I could borrow dad’s weights. It was weird.”

Michael made a non-committal sound and blinked long and hard. “If I was gay, what would you think?”

“I don’t know. You’re Michael. You’re gay. Or, well, you could be gay. I think Mom’s just going crazy or something, you know?”

Jeremy watched Michael breath through his nose. It was weird to think, but he really liked Michael’s nose. His whole face had some kind of realness to it that he just kind of liked. Looking in the mirror at himself just made him feel kind of impossible.

“I think I might be gay,” Michael said, looking at Jeremy through his peripherals.

“Okay,” Jeremy replied. “Do you think I’ll be gay too? I think that’s what she’s worried about.” Michael shrugged.

“Who knows, buddy.”

They grew quiet after that, watching the sun move through the sky. They were sitting on the curb of 7-11, and just kind of waiting for something. It was the summer before 9th grade. The air was warm and seemed to buzz. Jeremy pressed his hand on the pavement, set his drink down next to him, and rested his head on his other hand. He watched another car drive by, and Michael set his drink down too. He pressed his hand next to Jeremy’s, and they watched the cars pull by. The 7-11 wasn’t popular on any other day besides the free slushie day, so it was a good hang out.

Jeremy scratched something out of his eyes. He could feel the air popping between the space his and Michael’s hands rested near each other, and the slushies were beginning to melt. The air smelt like cement, and he could hear the whistle of Michael’s breathing next to him.

-

3.

There was a loud crashing by the lockers, and Jeremy’s mouth flattened into a straight line. He clutched his books a little harder. He chewed on the inside part of his bottom lip as he made his way over to the sounds. It wasn’t passing times, but he had another breakdown and had to go to the nurse, this time over math. He just kept staring and trying to work at the classwork, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do, and kept spiraling down farther and farther in terms of worry and self-deprecation so quickly that he was able to have a full leap from “Oh, I don’t know how to do this math,” to “I’m going to die alone because I’m pathetic and stupid,” in the span of a full class period. The nurse knew him by that point, so when he came in frustrated and near tears after the class, she just let him stay there and cover his face with his cardigan until he felt better. She was nice if kinda unattentive. Her name was Anne.

Anyways, that’s why he hadn’t been in class, and that’s why he was able to hear someone getting slammed against a locker. He cautiously moved towards the sound, even though it was nowhere near his next class, which was Home Ec, one of the electives both he and Michael had signed up for together. Speaking of Michael, as he got closer, Jeremy winced, because he recognized one of the guys.

Michael was being shoved against the locker by a short dude and another guy. Through the process of elimination, Jeremy could figure out the short one was Rich Goranski, the newest force of terror rocking through the school ever since September. Jeremy didn’t know the other one, because it wasn’t like he was really popular, he was just one of Rich’s entourage. Typically Jake Dillinger backed him up, mostly just through nasty comments, but he was actually kind of a goody-goody in a casual way. He could come in late without much comment, but he wasn’t one to skip a lot. He got okay grades, just good enough to be in a lot of after-school things, so most teachers tolerated him. But, yeah, Jake went to class more.

Jeremy stepped closer, trying to be quiet, but one can never escape the school bullies because Rich’s head seemed to snap over the moment he twitched. Jeremy felt like a piece of meat in front of a lion, and Rich grinned like he knew exactly what he was thinking. Michael looked over slowly and he frowned. His nose was bleeding a little.

“Aw, look Smell! It’s your wittle boyfriend! Is he here to save you? Now that just warms my heart, wouldn’t you know. Well, if he wants to join in on the action, I’m sure we could up this threesome by a number.” Jeremy gulped. He could run away, but Michael was still held tightly by Rich, and he couldn’t just leave him.

“L-leave him alone,” Jeremy stuttered, and Rich laughed loud and mean and let go of Michael, who kind of crumpled. Rich took a step forwards, and Jeremy took a step back.

“L-l-l-leave h-h-h-him a-a-a-a-alone,” Rich mocked with a gleeful expression, which quickly morphed into a sneer. “Listen here, Jeremy Queer. You can pretend to be brave and straight all you want, but it’s never gonna change what you actually are. Just some little faggot coward. You got that?” Jeremy took another step back, and Rich rolled his eyes.

Rich surged forwards, and pathetically, Jeremy was reminded of The Flash. He was pretty sure The Flash didn't call people faggots and give them black eyes though, and that's what Rich did.

Jeremy stumbled to the ground at the force, and Rich pulled back and laughed. He came back round to his friend and stopped next to Michael for a moment. Then, suddenly, he slammed on the lockers next to him hard and watched Michael flinch with a smug grin on his face. The two left them there, sitting on the floor like a couple of losers.

Jeremy sighed. “Guess I'm going back to the nurse.” Michael made a guttural noise, and it made him hurt. Jeremy pushed himself up and stumbled over to Michael, who grabbed his hand all desperate. They staggered over to the nurse's office together, saying nothing as they went.

Once they entered, the nurse took one look at them and then back at her phone game. Obviously, she hadn’t noticed the bleeding nose Michael had or the bruise that was starting to color on Jeremy’s face. She just recognized them as those kids that sometimes came in for breakdowns and panic attacks and it was fine. It was fine. They could handle it themselves.

There was another girl there, grabbing a bag of ice from the freezer, and they kind of just stood and stared at her. She had her hair pulled up in a bun, so they could clearly see the back of her vest. It was a jean vest, and it had a large plant with huge teeth painted on the back. She shut the freezer, turned around, and started.

“Oh. Hi! Wow, what happened to you two?” She inquired, and Michael shrugged. He detangled from Jeremy’s grip and staggered over to the sink and paper towels to wash away the drying blood.

“Oh, uh. Just some things,” Jeremy said, and she smiled sympathetically at him.

“I’m Christine. I came in to get some ice because I was in theatre class and I dropped my pencil and I bent down to get it but it was wedged in between a chair and the steps and when I came up from getting it I accidentally hit my head really hard on the chair and I came here to get some ice for it! And, you know, when I came in the nurse didn’t even care! What if I ended up splitting my eyebrow or something but we didn’t realize and then I had to get stitches? I know it’s not her fault, I mean, the school system sucks for employees and the U.S medical system is really bad and when you have two corrupt things going against each other it kind of restricts you but you think she’d still try to have the barest of care! I mean, my dad is a nurse and he understands that his patients need care, even if it doesn’t seem like much!”

Jeremy stared at her as she talked, watching her move her body jerkily as she talked, waving her hands and bag of ice around. Christine’s eyes seemed to sparkle to some unknown force of energy as she chattered on, and her rant kept passionate even when it switched topics. Jeremy kind of liked that. When she finished, her hands were on her hips and she was staring up at Jeremy with a fiery twinkle in her eye, which quickly diminished when she realized what happened.

She pulled away and looked sheepish, chewing on her lip a little. “Sorry. I talk too much about nothing and everything. I didn’t mean to do it.”

“It’s fine!” Jeremy said, his face breaking out into a grin. “It’s uh, it’s c- nice. It’s really nice.” There was a beat, where Christine just looked at him, as if she were in awe that someone found her ramblings nice.

“Haha, thanks. I, well, I should get back to class now! We’re working on improv and that’s kind of my favorite topic.”

“Oh, um, y-yeah. Have fun. With that. See you.”

She nodded and they moved apart hurriedly. Christine to her class, and Jeremy to the ice freezer. As he grabbed a pack out, he felt Michael looking at him. “She was nice,” Michael said.

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” Jeremy grabbed one of the packs and shut the door. She was nice. She was pretty. She was talkative. That was fun. “Pretty nice.”

-

4.

Jeremy stared at the Star Wars poster he hung up all that time ago. Star Wars, the film series his mom got him to watch. Star Wars, the poster his mom got him for his birthday two years ago. Star Wars, the one she helped him hang up, smiling at him, humming The Imperial March as he grinned at her. Star Wars.

The mom he looked like. The mom who had his eye bags. The mom who had his curly hair and big nose. The mom who made him a stuffed Stitch doll for his eighth birthday. The mom who sang Elvis when he couldn’t sleep. The mom who filed for divorce.

It was a long time coming. His mom and his dad were fighting more, loving less. She was still nice to Jeremy and Michael, but he could hear the fights get louder and louder when he played video games. He learned to go to Michael’s instead, so he wouldn’t ask him about it, and stop shooting Jeremy sad looks when his mom’s voice rang out harsh and loud “It’s not! About! YOU!”

His mom had come into his room earlier and hugged him tight, her suitcase packed next to her. She was going back to go and live with her parents until she found a new place to live. She was giving the house to her dad. She had said it was too many memories she didn’t want.

Jeremy’s phone rang on his bed. It was Michael. The ringtone- some 8-bit song from a game they both liked -rang out loud and clear. Jeremy reached forwards, got his finger underneath the Star Wars poster, and tore down hard, ripping it through the middle.

He crumpled the poster piece into a ball, tossed it into the trash, and grabbed his still-ringing phone. “Hello?” Jeremy said.

“Hey. My Mom just got a call from your dad about… Are you okay?” Jeremy was silent, just letting the phone send out the sound of static in his hand.

Suddenly, he sat down hard on the bed and let his face plant into his empty hand. “She left. I have no idea how I’m supposed to feel.”

“That’s okay. Do you want me to come over?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to hang up?”

“No.”

“Alright.”

-

5.

I-is this where you meet for play rehearsal?”

“No, this is where you meet for the swim team.”

Christine grinned at him, an eyebrow raised, and he bit his lip, turning to look at the auditorium doors. “I’m joking,” she finally said, realizing how conflicted Jeremy was.

“Oh, well, I’m Jeremy!” He said, and he felt his soul die a little. She just giggled.

“Are you okay? You seem nervous.” She just smiled sweetly at him, her eyebrows stitched together.

“No, I always-” he tried to stop saying what he was about to say, but committed to it, growing quieter, “-sweat this much.”

“Ohhh, I get it. You’re a virgin!” Jeremy made a sound. Maybe he should just leave now, save himself from more embarrassment in front of Christine. “First play rehearsal!”

Jeremy practically sagged in relief. “You think I’m nervous about play rehearsal!”

“Why else would you be shaking?” She looked at him with concern. “A lot?”

“Oh, haha. Yeah, I’m- I’m totally freaked.”

Christine’s concern melted into unbridled joy and made her jerk up in down in her seat with excitement. “It’s alright. I’m kind of jealous. You never forget your first! Play rehearsal!” He had no idea if she was making all these innuendos on purpose, but it was really, really cute. “Coming here is the highlight..”

“Of your day?” Jeremy finished for her, finally sitting down in the seat to the left of hers.

She snorted and said: “Yeah right. Of my life! I LOVE play rehearsal!”

He watched her go onto a tangent about how amazing play rehearsal was, jumping up and down and breaking into little dances and smiling and giggling and just being so fucking adorable. Jeremy was amazed he was so close to her. God, she was such a dork. It was amazing.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-

6.

“Hey! You were in that play last year!” Jake said to Christine, who made a face at him.

“You mean Romeo and Juliet?”

“Yeah! You were the girl that died!”

“You mean Juliet?”

“Yeah!”

Everything sucked all the time forever.

-

7.

Rich’s face was twisted into an angry snarl, but he wasn’t looking at Jeremy. He was looking at something behind Jeremy. He chanced a look. Nothing there.

“You don’t remember me freshman year, do you?”

“You didn’t go here freshman year-” Jeremy was cut off by Rich punching the wall next to him.

“I DID! You just didn’t notice. Nobody did!”

-

8.

-it’s a gray oblong pill, quantum nano-technology cpu. the quantum computer in the pill will travel through your blood until it implants in your brain and tells you what to do-

-

9.

“How is he doing?”

“How does it look?” Jeremy pressed a button hard and narrowed his eyes at the screen. He chopped a digital zombie head off.

“You heard from her?”

“No. And who cares? It’s like, Mom moved on, why can’t he?” She’s with a new guy now. She doesn’t talk to Jeremy anymore. Her new boyfriend has a daughter his age. If they get married, he could have a sister.

-

10.

-IT’S A GRAY OBLONG PILL, QUANTUM NANO-TECHNOLOGY CPU. THE QUANTUM COMPUTER IN THE PILL WILL TRAVEL THROUGH YOUR BLOOD UNTIL IT IMPLANTS IN YOUR BRAIN AND TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO-

AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

-

11.

“Everything about you is so terrible. Everything about you makes me want to die.”

“Jesus Christ.”

-

12.

There were faint blue scars running up and down his back now. A testament to his slouching. A testament to his stammering. A testament to his loserdom. They looked kind of like weird blood things running through his body, and it was one of the few things the S.Q.U.I.P allowed Jeremy to ignore during his appearance checks. There was the first time he noticed them, and his eyes widened with fear.

The S.Q.U.I.P had grabbed Jeremy’s chin and wrenched his face away from staring at his back as if he were actually corporeal. “What ARE those!?” Jeremy had asked, horrified.

“A reminder of what happens when you stammer and you slouch. They’re there because I care, Jeremy. It’s okay. They’re faint. Nobody will ever notice them unless they’re consciously looking for them, and only you’ll find them, because you and I are the only ones paying this close attention to you. Only me. It’s okay, Jeremy. I’m here for you. Let’s hope nobody else finds out about them, hm?”

Jeremy could feel the S.Q.U.I.P’s fingers running down his back. Jeremy could almost ignore them completely now. But they were always there, just like they were always on his back. They reminded him of the color of blue raspberry slushies, but thoughts like those were also something the S.Q.U.I.P was trying to scrub from his mind.

-

13.

Brooke was nice, and he was amazed to be kissing her, but something about it felt stifling and wrong. She was just a means to an end. He was such a user. Brooke was pretty, and smart, and kind of funny when she got over her title as second-most-popular. Jeremy wondered why the SQUIP hadn’t just had him get with Chloe instead, though. Sure, it would be harder to sell, but wouldn’t that make him more popular?

-

14.

OHGOD. OHGOD. OHGOD. Get OFF.

HIS LEGS. HIS LEGS. GET OFF. 

Her lips felt hot against his, and all he wanted was for her to GET OFF.

The music blasted from downstairs and she seemed to roll her hips in time with the beat and he hated that she wouldn’t GET OFF.

There was a banging on the door. GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF HELP ME PLEASE GET OFF.

-

15.

Jeremy sat down and scrubbed at his eyes. Goddamn. He felt like he was going to puke. Oh god. He just sat there and breathed for a little bit, until slowly he felt.. A hand. Touch him. He screamed and jerked away, and he might’ve actually really almost puked. The hand came up, and it was-

Michael.

“Sup,” Michael said. Jeremy swallowed and forced out a few words between his lips, still covered in Chloe’s peach lipstick.

“Michael? I didn’t know you were invited to this party.”

-

16.

He shut his eyes, and kept them closed so hard he can see colors. And then he opened them, and stared at Michael with a practiced angry face, though he felt like it just came off wrecked. It didn’t, by Michael’s reaction.

“Get out of my way. Loser.”

Michael stepped aside. Jeremy left the bathroom. Thankfully, Chloe, Jake, nor Brooke were in the hall. He could hear loud sex noises nearby though, and it sounded like Chloe, so he left downstairs as quick as possible.

-

17.

“You dumped Jake?” Jeremy said, sitting up in surprise. “Why?” There was a beat when he sank back into the couch. “Sorry, you don’t have to…”

Christine shrugged and twisted a section of her hair between her fingers. “I’m not Juliet, and he’s kind of a jerk, sooo.” She stuck her tongue out, and he smiled a little at her.

Suddenly: “SERIOUSLY! WHERE THE FUCK CAN I GET SOME MOUNTAIN DEW RED!?” From Rich, and she and Jeremy looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

“Popular people are meesseedd uupp,” Christine giggled, extending her words in a sing-songy way.

“Word,” he replied, giving her a sort of ironic, tired peace sign.

“Wellll, I mean, you’re one of them.”

“W-what?” Jeremy winced. He shouldn’t stutter. “No, I’m not.”

She grinned and rolled her eyes at him. “Hello, guy who’s been pucking his way through the cast of Midsummer.” He was incredulous.

“I’m not- pucking?”

“You like that? I just made it up. Boo-yeah.” Jeremy stared at her. He had been so busy just running through everything to get with her, he forgot about her and how funny she was. She narrowed her eyes at him. “What?”

Jeremy shook his head at her. “I just… I don’t know what I’m supposed to say right now.

Christine, always the optimist, always ready to say what she’s thinking, told him: “Say whatever’s on your mind.” So he made a weird noise at her, thinking about meeting her in the nurse’s office, and then again in the hallway, and then again at play rehearsal.

-

18.

His phone flashed with alerts, and he flung an arm over his eyes. The Squip spent the rest of the night helping him avoid his dad and berating him for the way he messed it up with Chloe and Christine. He did congratulate him for willingly ditching Michael, saying there were obviously only a few more corrections he needed to do before Jeremy could be much closer to perfect. That just made Jeremy want to curl in on himself more.

His phone made a couple of alerts, and he finally relented, sitting up and grabbing it. After a few seconds of processing the texts he got- a couple of sad texts from Brooke, one from Christine asking if they were still friends, and a text from Jenna -his eyes widened.

Rich and Jake were both sent to the hospital. Rich burned down Jake’s house. He brought a hand to his mouth and just stared.

(He hoped Michael made it out okay. Even if he did hate him, even if he was holding him back, even if he was a loser, he had still been his best friend for years, and he didn’t want him to die.)

-

19.

Jenna screamed in his face. He wondered if she was okay, but mostly wondered if he had looked that dumb when he had gotten the Squip.

-

20.

“If you’re not going to take me seriously-” Jeremy’s dad was suddenly really mad. What right did he have to that? Did he think he was allowed to be like that, after all this time, just suddenly worry? Suddenly care? Suddenly be upset? The Squip’s hand was a light weight on his shoulders, but it didn’t need to encourage him to be pissed off.

“Why should I?” Jeremy asked, and his dad’s face flashed in anger, and then sadness.

“Excuse me?”

“I'm supposed to believe you care? Look in the mirror! Ever since Mom left, you sit around like you're waiting for her to come back! If she did, you know what she'd find? A loser who's so afraid to have a life, he can't even put PANTS ON!” 

Jeremy’s fists were balled up and shaking at his side, and he was flat out yelling at his dad. His eyes had closed as he had gotten louder, so he took a deep breath, and reopened them. His dad was looking at him with an expression like he had finally figured out who Jeremy was. He didn’t know Jeremy at all.-

“I could ground you,” he said.

“I don’t think you could.” Jeremy blinked at him, and then turned away, grabbing the keys. “Good talk. Don’t wait up.”

-

21.

“It’s from Japan!” Jeremy said, smiling at Christine, who just looked confused. “It’s a computer- It tells you what to do! You'd never have to struggle to figure out what to say, or over analyze some little gesture, ever again. You'd just know. Like play rehearsal. Only it never has to end!” He thought she’d like the bit about never-ending play rehearsal, but she just stared at him, terrified.

“Jeremy,” she said slowly, “that sounds... horrible.”

“Yeah!” Wait, what? “What?”

“Maybe I have stuff to figure out. But I don’t need a pill to do it for me!” Christine exclaimed, stepping away in obvious distress. That felt like a jab. He needed one. He didn’t think Christine needed one, but everyone needed one and everyone includes Christine. It could help her never feel stressed again. Why didn’t she get that?

“It’s not like that! It’ll help you be better-”

“What’s wrong with me now?” She interrupted, sounding like she was going to cry, and he started. Nothing, he wanted to say. Nothing.

Mr. Reyes came in and handed her the beaker, dressed in Jeremy’s costume, and she left as quickly as she could. He had messed up so badly.

-

22.

“I don’t resent you! I’m jealous you try!”

“Well, I’m jealous you don’t!”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME?”

“I’M NOT TRYING TO!”

-

23.

“It’s- not- me- it’s- my- SQUIP!” He said, pushing it through his teeth with all his might. “It’s taking over my body! I need your help! I’M SORRY!”

Michael ran over and tried to hold him down, and Jeremy never felt so thankful for anything in his life.

-

24.

Christine smiled at him. She was lit up by a spotlight, and an eerie blue glow. She looked radiant.

-

25.

Christine threw her head back and screamed. She was lit up by a spotlight, and a quickly diminishing blue glow. She looked in pain.

-

26.

Jeremy wakes up in the hospital with a headache and a feeling like he’s missing a part of himself. Rich voices as such.

-

27.

Michael holds his hand one night when he has a breakdown still in the hospital. It’s just- he started thinking about everything and the Squip and Christine and after almost a week it still feels like he’s missing a chunk of his soul and-

He’s crying before he knows what’s happening. The real reason he got to thinking was that he finally got his motor functions back enough to allow the doctors to do a physical check-up on him, and they were looking so close and they managed to. To. The blue scars, the one’s the Squip swore up and down nobody else would ever notice were noticed, and when the doctor’s left him and his dad and Michael, except Michael hadn’t been allowed in the inspection, he had to slowly explain what had happened. His eyes closed, he could still feel the phantom shocks and the smell that seemed to haunt him when he got shocked too much in one day. He didn’t stutter, but if he had, they would’ve noticed the way he flinched over his syllables.

They had all cried, except for Jeremy, who just talked in a slow monotone. Who couldn’t feel anything except the phantom pops and crackles on his spine.

“You didn’t deserve that, man,” Michael had said, and Jeremy didn’t believe him.

So. Emotions swelled, and Jeremy did finally start crying. Michael, who was staying late with him and was half-asleep, reached out and grabbed his hand. Jeremy cried harder but clutched onto it like it would heal him.

-

28.

Jeremy got out a month and a half after he entered the hospital- though to be fair, most of it was spent unconscious -and when he came back to school, everyone was talking about him. Some people went silent when he passed, some still treated him like he was popular, and some just laughed. Everyone had a reaction, except for the popular kids, Christine, and Michael, who he was all avoiding. They probably had a reaction, but he didn't want to know it. He missed Michael, but he still felt weird hanging out with him.

There was no avoiding them at lunch though, unless he felt like going out or hiding in the bathroom. But wasn’t that lame? Avoiding someone that much. Ghost fingers traced his neck. A ghost voice whispered something unintelligible in his head.

He went into the cafeteria, grabbed a school lunch, and looked around at the great lunchroom. Where did he sit now? Was he a social leper? A loser? Was he still popular? He stood and beheld, approaching something akin to panic until a hand shot up from one of the tables and waved at him. Christine smiled at him, surrounded by everyone else, even Michael. Jeremy chewed on the inside of his cheek and approached.

Christine was sitting next to Michael, but scooted over and patted the spot in-between her and him. He was kind of glad she did that because Chloe was on the other side, and he still didn’t want to be that close to her.

The popular people were silent, just watching him stumble into his spot, and he felt flayed and exposed. When he sat down, it took a moment, but Brooke smiled at him, a little sad, a little sleepy. He smiled back, and Michael passed him jello. Orange, his favorite.

-

29.

“Where do you think we go when we die?” Christine asked, and Jeremy paused mid-fry chew. He thought about it for a moment, swallowed, and replied: “No idea.”

They were on a date. Lunch, just the two of him. It had been about two months, getting to truly know her and not just the built-up image he had in his mind, and letting her truly get to know him and not just the facade the Squip made him build. The SQUIP. The S.Q.U.I.P. He had personified the S.Q.U.I.P too much and had begun to regard to “Squip” as a name rather than an acronym. And maybe it was a name, but he just wanted to distance himself from it being a name. He wanted to stop being comfortable with the S.Q.U.I.P. So it had been two months of getting to know each other, and he had asked her out and she was still hung up on trying to figure herself out and that was obviously valid but Jeremy suggested. What if? What if they figured it out together? She said she’d think about it and then two days later she said okay. So that’s how that happened. They were on their second date currently.

“Absolutely none?”

“Yep. I’ve got no clue.”

“Are you religious?”

“I mean, I’m Jewish, but I don’t practice it that much. We celebrate the main holidays, but we kind of stopped after… Uh, well, my mom was the Jewish one, and my dad converted for her, and after she left we, uh, w-we stopped doing things for a while.” Jeremy ate another fry. “We’re working up to celebrating again. We’re working up to doing a lot of old things now.”

Christine nodded and looked interested in what he was saying, even if he felt it wasn’t interesting. (It’s not interesting, a phantom voice whispered, and Jeremy blocked it out by thinking about how cute Christine’s focused face looked.)

“Well, I’m doing Rent for the play at the teen actors program at the community center and I’m playing Mimi and I’m just trying to think about my character, you know! Like, when she almost dies and junk? And then I got thinking about death and I got to wondering, where do we go, you know? And that’s what I was thinking about while I walked here. So, I just wanted a second opinion. You get it right?” Jeremy made an agreeable noise, and she took a sip of her milkshake. They got burgers and milkshakes, cause they found that stereotypical and funny.

“Well, I think when I do die,” Jeremy finally said, “I want to go somewhere like this. Like Earth. I want things to be easy, but not too easy. Maybe more dogs. And no taxes or math homework."

Christine grinned and bounced a little in her chair. “I agree. Less math, more dogs. Taxes are basically just adult math homework sheets, don’t you think?” Jeremy laughed and nodded.

-

30.

Jeremy laid on Michael’s bed, his eyes closed. He was a little tired. Michael moved around the room, buzzing with energy. They were going to a pool party at Chloe Valentine’s house. Jeremy thought that would be something he would never get to do.

Everyone had gotten closer and nicer. Even Chloe. She had apologized to Jeremy for Halloween, and he had smiled at her. He wasn’t quite ready to forgive her completely, but he could still thank her for bothering to say sorry.

Jeremy was laying in his swim trunks and shirt (he didn’t want anyone to see his shock scars) as Michael scrounged up his outfit, just like old times when they would go to the public pool and splash around like kids.

“How many people do you think will be there?” Michael asked.

“I dunno. I think it’s just a group thing.” Jeremy yawned, slowly peeled open his eyes, and startled, because Michael was changing his shirt. Why was he startled, it wasn’t that interesting. Okay, Jeremy knew why he was startled. It’s because the sudden thoughts of ‘Wow,’ flooded through his brain, just like they did when Christine wore her pretty little outfits for Rent. What the fuck.

He shut his eyes again, and only opened them when Michael said, “Okay, ready to go?” Jeremy was just glad Michael also wore a swim shirt because he didn’t feel right going around half-naked.

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, pushing himself off the bed, and he tried not to think about Michael’s chest.

-

31.

Jeremy cranked out push-up after push-up and thought about Christine kissing him after her performance of Rent. And thought about Michael not wearing his hoodie on a hot day and his arms being fully exposed. And thought about Christine melting like putty in his hands when they were making out the other day. And thought about Michael changing his shirt in front of him after Michael spilled water all over himself. Just thinking about his girlfriend and his best friend, and doing another push-up.

-

32.

He wasn't gay. He really liked Christine. He knew he really liked Christine. Jeremy didn’t want to say he loved her just yet, but he loved her a little bit. He had been dating Christine for months, and he wasn’t just going to fuck it up just because he got a little queasy but in a way that made him happy when Michael grinned at him, his face lighted by the blue of the television screen.

-

33.

“How did-” Jeremy started, fiddling with his straw. “How did you know you were gay?” He spent years not asking that question. Michael raised an eyebrow but smiled at him.

“The kid from Addams Family Values with the curly hair,” He said, matter-of-factly. “I just saw the glasses and curly hair and the way he threw his parents into the mud and went goddamn.”

Jeremy frowned. “I mean- seriously. Not who made you gay or whatever, but how did you know you were gay?” Michael took a sip of his slushie and looked far away as if he were deep in thought. And then he popped the straw from his lips and shrugged.

“It’s never been a big deal for me. I mean, I have two moms. I only figured out I was gay after I had a crush on a boy, and then only boys. I could’ve been anything. It was a “huh, gotcha” moment, and then I stuck a label on, and then it wasn’t a big deal for anyone anywhere except for your mom until people at school really figured it out. I never had any trouble with it. It was just natural. It was everyone else that tried to make me doubt myself, but I didn’t relent. Sorry I couldn’t be more help. You questioning something?”

Jeremy startled. “No! No, I-i-i’m. I’m not, I’m fine. Just… curious about you. Cause I never asked it.” Michael nodded slowly like he didn’t believe him, and Jeremy sweated and hunched over under his gaze.

Finally, Michael sighed, and said: “Okay, buddy.” And he dropped it.

-

34.

“You’re so pretty,” Christine whispered, her eyes half-lidded, and Jeremy gave her a private smile. She kissed him and moved her arms around his neck. He rested one hand under her head, and the other on the soft space of stomach above her hips. When she pulled away, he pressed his forehead against hers and said: “God, you’re perfect.” He kissed her again and moved in closer.

After a few more minutes of making out, she pulled away and rolled on top of him. It took a moment for him to figure out what she was doing, but when he did, his eyes flew open wide. Christine smiled nervously at him and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

“Are, um, are you okay with this? Like, it doesn’t have to be anything, but, like, um. I mean, I still just want to make out more, but I kind of want to take my top off? Is that weird? This feels weird.” She was quiet and wasn’t looking at him. Jeremy had felt really… weird about sex. About it possibly being sex. Like, wow! It was Christine Canigula, and she wanted to have sex with him? Little Jeremy a year ago would have died from shock and excitement, but mostly Jeremy now just didn’t want to have sex. But making out with her, just a little naked? He could deal with that.

“Y-yeah. Yeah. It’s okay, I’m cool with it. I don’t- I don’t really want to do anything more than make out though. So.” Her gaze moved to his and she smiled in relief, but then got nervous again.

“Yeah, I don’t- I don’t really feel like getting that heated either. Um. I. Hm. I didn’t really expect you to say yes. I dunno. I, uh, well.” She rolled off of him. “I don’t know why I didn’t do this before, but I need to tell you something.”

Christine sat against the headrest and the top of her bed and pulled her knees into her chest. Jeremy sat up and frowned, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just. Uh. I have kind of a secret. And, like, it’s a big one and even though we’ve been dating for a while and we’re getting kind of serious I’ve just felt so nervous about telling you? Like obviously I don’t HAVE to tell you but it’s starting to become something that’s definitely going to being prominent and needed to be discussed and stuff.” Her eyes are shut, and there’s a worried crease between her eyebrows.

“Oh. You don- you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s fine.”

“It’s NOT fine Jeremy!” She exclaimed, opening her stance and waving her arms, sounding a little frustrated. “It’s a big deal and while it’s my thing we’re getting to a point where it’s going to impact you too! I just.” Christine’s eyes darted down and she curled back into herself. “I’m just worried that it’s going to change how you think of me so much that this- this thing that we have is gonna end. And I like this thing! It’s easy, while still difficult, and still allowing me to grow. And I like you! I’m just scared.” She sniffled a little and Jeremy’s heart broke for her.

He brought an arm around her but didn’t actually rest it on her shoulders. Instead, he looked at her and waited for her approval or disapproval. Christine sniffled again and nodded, so he wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her in a little closer. “Why don’t you just lay it on me, okay? Whatever it is, I won’t let it break us.” She nodded and licked her lips a little bit.

“Okay, um. Well, so.” She took a deep breath. “I, um, I’m transgender. Like, I used to be called and treated like a boy, but I’m actually a girl, and I’ve transitioned into a girl and stuff.” Jeremy processed this for a moment, looked at her frightened face, and smiled at her. He brought his hand to her chin and turned her head towards him, so he could kiss her slow and sweet. When he pulled away, she grinned at him, tears watering a little in her eyes.

“God, you’re so perfect, Christine,” he said and kissed her again as she threw her arms around his neck.

-

35.

“I think I might be bisexual,” Jeremy said the moment he sat down. Christine looked up quickly and made a sound that could easily be attributed to a confused Scooby-Doo.

“Yeah?”

“Do you, uh, do you think I’m not?” Jeremy asked cautiously. He had only recently settled on that, and he was still scared about it. He just… kind of needed a second opinion.

“No! No, I’m not doubting you!” She said quickly, waving her hands. And then she settled down and smiled at him. “I’m proud of you for telling me! How’d you figure it out?”

“Oh, um.” He REALLY didn’t want to say it. “I’ve kind of. Been realizing. I think. Some guys that we. Know. Are. Kind of hot.” He buried his face in his hands. Jeremy’s face was red to the tips of his ears. “I don’t- I obviously haven’t done anything so it’s not like- I don’t know. I just think I might be.”

“Is it Michael?” She asked, and he whipped his head up.

“Wh-what? No! I uh, I- no! I don’t- I haven’t- oh god,” Jeremy stammered as she stared sympathetically at him and he buried his head in his hands again. “Mmmaybe…?” His voice was a little muffled by his hands.

-

36.

“Okay, truth or dare, Jere,” Jenna said, looking over Jake’s shoulder at his phone. It was Brooke’s party and they were just having a small group affair. Since nobody wanted to have to think of questions and dares on their own (especially since a few of them broke out the alcohol early), Jake just downloaded an app.

“Um, dare?” He said, smiling nervously, one hand wrapped around Christine’s who was cuddling into her neck. She had had a few beers, but he had stopped her because he knew she didn’t like to get wasted. She had water in her hand she was sipping at periodically.

“Okay. Uh, kiss the person to your right.” Jeremy looked at his hands to distinguish right from left really quickly. Christine was to his left, and Michael was to his right. They looked at each other, and Michael shrugged, so Jeremy looked at Christine and asked, “You alright with this?”

She giggled and nodded quickly. “Yeahh! Do it!” Jeremy stared at her for a moment before taking in a shaky breath and detangling himself from her. Christine leaned back and giggled some more as he turned to Michael. Who promptly burst out laughing.

“You look so serious, dude!” He said with a snort. Jeremy rolled his eyes as his mouth flattened into a straight line, but his ears went pink.

“Shut up, man,” Jeremy mumbled, and Michael humored him and stopped, though he had a dumb smug smile.

“Alright, dude. Plant one on me.”

Jeremy nodded and leaned forward slowly, getting closer to Michael’s face, until they were a finger’s width apart. He moved a hand up to his cheek, and kissed him, slow and nervously. A little bit like he and Christine’s first kiss had gone. A few seconds passed, and then Jeremy pulled away, looking anywhere but at Michael. His face was red and Rich wolf-whistled.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and pulled Christine back up so she could cuddle with him. She was looking at him with a mischievous smile, and occasionally darting Michael looks.

“Okay. Brooke, truth or dare?” Jenna asked after they all settled.

-

37.

“Were you ever a girl scout?” Michael asked, leaning forwards. “You were, weren’t you. I bet you know the thin mints recipe. Tell me it.”

Christine giggled at him. “I actually wasn’t ever a girl scout. I was always jealous of those who were, but I never did any scouting. There were a bunch of girl scouts in the youth theatre program I did! But I’m as useless as you with the cookie recipes.” He leaned back and mock scowled at her.

“Ugh! Useless. I can’t believe this. Jeremy, can you believe this?”

Jeremy, who had been sipping on his drink and smiling at them shook his head. “I can’t believe this.” Christine rolled her eyes, but she still had a smile on her face.

They were, as the cool kids called it, hanging out. Jeremy and Christine had joined a local play together because even though he originally only joined because of Christine, he had always wanted to do plays. And it had been a musical! Christine had been a main character, and Jeremy only an ensemble member, but he was still proud of himself for joining. Therefore, the only logical thing for Michael to do was to take them out to celebrate. He was closest with the both of them, and he was very proud.

When Jeremy had told his dad where he was headed, his dad had raised an eyebrow and jokingly commiserated with Michael, saying it was going to be awkward with him being the third wheel. But it wasn’t awkward. It was just comfortable and nice. Watching Christine and Michael joke with each other just felt right.

Michael caught his eye and made a funny face to make Jeremy laugh. Yeah, it felt just right.

-

38.

“What do you know about polyamory, Jeremy?” Christine asked one night when they were hanging out at Michael’s. Michael was grabbing the pizza from the delivery man.

“Um, I dunno. It’s three people all dating each other, right?”

“Yeah, typically.” Her eyes were closed. “Sometimes, there’s one person who dates two or more people, and those people that they’re dating aren’t dating each other. Cool, right?”

“Mhm. What, play research?”

“No,” Christine said, and Jeremy didn’t quite know what to say.

They were silent until Michael came back down with the pizza, and Christine kept shooting Jeremy looks he didn’t quite understand.

-

39.

Michael stood up, arms extended above him in a stretch. Jeremy watched, admiring a little. He admired, but nothing else. It was fine. It was reeeeaaallly early, like, almost three am because they had been gaming for forever. It felt just like old times. They were seniors now.

Michael relaxed, turned, and caught Jeremy staring at him, who quickly looked away. Michael kept watching him, and Jeremy could feel his face heat up a little bit. “Anything new?” He asked carefully, and he shrugged.

“Um, so.” He scratched the back of his neck and still didn’t look at Michael. “You know that conversation we had? Where I asked you how you figured out you were gay? I, ugh. I kind of figured out I’m bisexual. Christine’s known for a while now.”

“Yeah? Congratulations, buddy. I proud of you for figuring it out,” he replied, but his voice sounded kind of weird like there was a new emotion coming through. Jeremy looked at him through the corner of his eyes.

“You know what? Me too.”

They were silent until Michael said: “You wanna keep gaming?”

“Yeah, totally.”

-

40.

“I think I like Michael,” Jeremy said. He was laying down on Christine’s bed as she painted his nails, but she paused when he said that. “I still like you, but I think- I think I sorta like like him.”

There was a beat, and then Christine yelled “NO DUH, JEREMY!” before dissolving into loud cackles.

-

41.

“Christine keeps putting love notes in my locker from you,” Michael said one day when he sat down during study hall. Jeremy was already counting down the days until the next Halloween, which would hopefully go a lot better than the previous year’s. Jeremy’s head shot up.

“What?” He asked, beginning to sweat. 

“Your girlfriend. Christine Canigula. Keeps putting love notes. In my locker. Signed with your name,” Michael said slowly, and held up a typed up note, indeed, signed with his name.

“H-how do you know it’s Christine? It’s typed so you can’t recognize her handwriting.”

“I saw her shove it in my locker and then run off.”

“Ah.”

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Jeremy had been writing those and giving them to Christine. He hadn’t really been expecting her to put those in his locker. If he had known that he would’ve just thrown them away. “I, uh, I’ll tell her to stop.”

“It’s… fine. I just wanted you to know.”

“Okay.”

-

42.

It was a late night. A very light night. There were a few texts to Christine sent, and Jeremy had a choice to make. A thing to do.

“Hey,” Jeremy said loudly. He was staring at the ceiling as Michael watched a documentary on tickling fetishists. Michael was halfway through shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“What’s up?” He asked after swallowing.

“You know Brooke’s birthday a while ago? Where we kissed?”

“Yeah…?”

“We should- we should do that again.”

-

43.

1:28 AM  
From partner in crime 💕: did u do it did u do it did u do it!  
From partner in crime 💕: jeremy???  
From partner in crime 💕: HELLOOOO????  
From partner in crime 💕: oh okies ur probs havin the hot makeouts lol  
From partner in crime 💕: ill leave you to it!!!

9:24 AM  
To partner in crime 💕: Morning, Christine.  
To partner in crime 💕: About last night…

From partner in crime 💕: he was down rite!!!???

To partner in crime 💕: No, he um.  
To partner in crime 💕: He actually shot me down.

From partner in crime 💕: WHAT

To partner in crime 💕: First, he was worried about you. Worried I was cheating, you know?  
To partner in crime 💕: Like, duh. Why wouldn’t he be worried.  
To partner in crime 💕: And then I tried to explain polyamory and stuff and he just got freaked out and kicked me out.  
To partner in crime 💕: So :(  
To partner in crime 💕: But I get it. It’s weird! I was freaked out at first too!  
To partner in crime 💕: I had just hoped… IDK. That he would’ve liked it too IG.  
To partner in crime 💕: So. Shrug.

From partner in crime 💕: aw :((((  
From partner in crime 💕: that sucks!!!!!!!!

To partner in crime 💕: Yeah…  
To partner in crime 💕: So after that, I just went home all sad and then went to bed, so I couldn’t respond to your texts.

From partner in crime 💕: :(  
From partner in crime 💕: ily, u kno that??

To partner in crime 💕: I love you too, Chris.

-

44.

Michael sat down across from Jeremy at the lunch table for the first time in a week, and before Jeremy could even say hello, Michael said in a rush “You’re really serious about the polyamorous thing? Like, you dating me and Christine?”

“Uh. Uh. Yeah!” Jeremy’s eyes were wide, and Christine, who was sitting next to him, grinned and began to bounce in her chair.

“Guys,” she squealed. “This. Is gonna be awesome!”

-

45.

“You, um, you look. You look really nice,” Michael said, and he just stared. Jeremy looked down at his outfit, and shrugged, pretending to be casual.

“Uh, I- Uh. Thanks, Michael,” he said and gave him a small smile.

“Booooyss! I’m coming out!” Christine called from the other room, and Jeremy called back “That’s what I said to Jake and Rich when I told them I was bi at the Halloween party!” which makes Michael laugh.

She poked just her head out and winked at them. Her hair was in a bun, and it highlighted her face all nice. Then, she strutted out, and struck a pose, grinning happy and bright. It was infectious, and she was beautiful, wearing some flowery dress that went down to her knees. He laughed, came forward, and picked Christine up, who shrieked a little, and spun her around as she giggled wildly.

After a moment, he let her down and kissed her cheek. “You’re so pretty,” Jeremy said, and her eyes twinkled.

“Wow, just leave me out of the fun, Jeremy? Pick me up and spin me. Give ME a kiss,” Michael said, coming over and leaning over Jeremy’s shoulder. Jeremy rolled his eyes, but smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek too.

Michael made a dumb face and then winked at Christine. “Swoon, amiright?”

“Total swoon,” she said, leaning against Jeremy. “The swoonage is a thing to behold. A very dreamy boyfriend.”

“Guys-” Jeremy said, going a little red, but they just grinned mischievously at him, both planted kisses on his cheeks. When they pulled away laughing, Jeremy covered his face with his hands, embarrassed. “Can we just go to the dinner?” He asked, making little whining sounds.

Christine laughed at him, but did take pity, and pulled the boys out to the car. It was Valentine's Day, and it was date time.

-

46.

Rich stared hard at Jeremy, who was sitting nervously. It felt like lasers boring into his soul. Rich had been watching him for several minutes now, and it was making Jeremy’s skin crawl.

Finally, Christine sat down next to him, and he turned and sent her HELP ME vibes. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Rich, who was watching Christine now. “What’re you doing?” she asked, and Rich shrugged.

“Piecing things together. Something’s been different about you guys recently. And Michael too. ‘Bout all y’all. Like there’s something… MISSING from your interactions.” Rich scratched his chin like he had a beard, even though he was unable to even grow stubble, and then snapped his fingers. “UST!” He exclaimed.

“Wh- d- Uh, what?” Jeremy asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Unresolved Sexual Tension! You’re all closer like you fucked or something! Like, you and Mell,” he said, pointing to Jeremy.

Jeremy looked at Christine, who smiled and shrugged, and he turned back to Rich. “I, um. Yeah. I’m dating Michael now.”

“You two broke up? I swear I saw you kiss earlier.”

Jeremy laughed and pressed a hand to his face. “Yeah. I’m dating both of them. Like, polyamory?”

“Ohhhhhh. Okay. Congrats, bro. Michael’s hot.”

“Yeah, he- yeah, he is. I can’t believe this is my life.”

-

47.

“So. How are you and Christine going, private?” Jeremy shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. He and his dad sometimes went out to watch a movie or grab food together. Father-son bonding and all that. It had started up sometime junior year and just continued on, even nearly a year later.

“Good, good. We’re good.”

“You two are pretty serious now, eh?”

“Yeah, we- we are.”

Jeremy set his coffee down and leaned back. “I’m actually also dating Michael now too. Not like, cheating. Like, they both know about it. But I’m dating both of them.”

His dad was surprised for a good couple seconds, and then it just melted into him chuckling and shaking his head. “Why am I surprised? You’re all about each other. Does this mean I need to ban sleepovers between you and Michael now?”

“D-dad! I’m almost eighteen!”

“Imperative word being almost, Jeremy.”

-

48.

“The school year’s gonna end soon, you guys,” Brooke said one night when they were all hanging out at Chloe’s house. “We’re gonna be adults! Like, real ones! Are you guys scared?” There were some agreements from all around, but it quickly died out because they were watching The Princess Bride and Buttercup was about to realize the pirate boy is Westley and throw herself down a hill. 

In the back, Christine whispered to Jeremy: “Do you think we’ll be okay once we graduate?”

Jeremy looked at her, smiled, squeezed her hand, and said: “I hope so.”

-

49.

It was late, and they were all hanging out at Michael’s house. Michael and Jeremy fell asleep in a tangle of limbs on the beanbag chairs, and only Christine, who had to pee, was untouched by the perilous spell of the Sandman. When she came back in, she realized they had fallen without a blanket, and so, went over to the closet, pulled it open, and grabbed an old, pink woolen blanket. She clutched it closed to her chest, walked over, and draped it over them with a sleepy, loving smile. Christine sat down, crawled over, and cuddled in with them, placing her head on Jeremy’s chest and breathing deep. Yeah. They deserved this.

-

50.

“I love you,” Jeremy said.

“I love you,” Christine said.

“I love you,” Michael said.

**Author's Note:**

> UGH first bmc fic in like 8ish months??? idk havent checked. anwyas WE STAN. thanks. follow me on my tumblr i mostly post homestuck! don-lockwood.tumblr.com ;3
> 
> also,,,, this is all unbetaed and shti so whatevs HMU IF U CATCH THAT WRONG SHIT CAUSE THIS WAS CHURNED OUT THROUGH PURE PASSION OVER THE SPAN OF TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
> 
> OH and i have a christine canigula playlist! [listen here <3](https://open.spotify.com/user/annoyingandgay/playlist/5uImh0HZHxllIfYIMWmHRj?si=7DvXrXGOQaW6hPUYizGLeA)
> 
> okie love you mwah 😘


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